So I have a theory as to how this damn thing got so close because I do not believe it was a few weeks ago.
Firstly media has been banging away for sometime about how big the mail-in voting was and how heavily skewed it was for the Democrats. Hearing this every night for weeks on end and coupled with the Trump rally effect caused an explosion in right wing turn out late in the game that would have not otherwise have happened. This is why we are where we are at right now.
So here is this. Why is voting information before the day of the election made public? This seems pretty idiotic to me and in this case it really may have had unneeded influence on this election.